JC Jensen: DIY DX3 In DX1

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You there! Remember the parody video in which the likes of DLC references, object highlighting and iron sights from Human Revolution were added to the original Deus Ex, and how even-tempered everyone was about it? Well, now you can recreate that past-meets-present, JC/AJ mash-up yourself, as creator Ceski has released the mod he made to achieve the video.

Also includes instant wristblade takedowns (press use when behind an enemy), regenerating health and a surfeit of black and gold. Grab Deus Ex: Unreal Revolution from here.

Not necessarily. Parody is imitation for humorous effect. The definition doesn’t require ridicule, but neither does it exclude it, and most definitions of the word expressly include ridicule as a common usage of parody.

Pretty f*cking awesome is what I call it. Despite it having its own problems, it’s still an absolutely amazing game. I don’t know how many other games could get away with being so absolutely f*cking brilliant, with something as obnoxious as the Boss Fights in it… But Deus Ex HR manages to still come across as a f*cking excellent game, despite the Boss Fights.

@Unaco
I err, think you missed the point of this little thread. It wasn’t about if HR was good or not…

Oh, and the OED has this to say on Parody (n 2)1. a. A literary composition modelled on and imitating another work, esp. a composition in which the characteristic style and themes of a particular author or genre are satirized by being applied to inappropriate or unlikely subjects, or are otherwise exaggerated for comic effect. In later use extended to similar imitations in other artistic fields, as music, painting, film, etc.

b. Without article: this as a style or genre; the composition or creation of parodies, or of a parody.

2. In extended use: a poor or feeble imitation of something; a travesty.

So it does say that the original work should be satirized or exaggerated. Although I also realise that over the past few years, in the US especially, Parody has come to mean “any derivative”, presumably as a result of parody’s exemption from copyright.

Yes, Parody is imitation and exaggeration for comedic effect. But not necessarily ridicule, or belittling the subject matter. This was the OP’s point, as he felt the video was ridiculing the subject matter, and therefore somehow *not* a parody. There are plenty of “parodies” that reverently celebrate the subject matter without ridiculing it (lots of reverent Star Wars parodies, for instance), but ridicule is also a common goal of parody.

When looking up a definition, I generally start with Oxford, and work my way out. You’ll see that Oxford’s definition is the most distilled and basic definition, and makes no mention of ridicule or satire (although it in no way precludes them), although many other definitions include these common uses of parody.

I hope this was as edifying and pointless for everyone as it was for me.

“The meaning of parody hasn’t changed in U.S. culture. If someone misuses the word then it’s being misused and that’s the end of it.”

Whee, now we can move on from needless pedantry about a word (I just threw in the Oxford English Dictionary definition for completeness, knowing it was a little silly) to the prescriptive/descriptive language argument.

Well, I don’t think it’s pointless at all. Implying that this mod is a parody is down-playing the entire point of it. I assure you the point of the mod isn’t to lightly make fun of DX:HR – it’s meant to tear it a new augmentation and kick dirt on it.

Calling it a mere parody suggests that you don’t understand why the gameplay elements it’s making fun of are so bad in the first place.

“I assure you the point of the mod isn’t to lightly make fun of DX:HR – it’s meant to tear it a new augmentation and kick dirt on it.”

Then it has failed at it’s objective. It comes across as small nitpicking (“DX had this but DX3 doesn’t, this is heinous!! Even though that feature wasn’t that good” or “DX3 has this feature that wasn’t in DX1 and is horrible for that reason”), complaining that DX3 isn’t just DX1 with nicer graphics, and bitching about things that are entirely optional. If you’re seeing Objective and Object Highlighting, you’re NOT playing on “Give Me Deus Ex” (or you’ve gone into the options and turned them on).

, I don’t think it’s pointless at all. Implying that this mod is a parody is down-playing the entire point of it. I assure you the point of the mod isn’t to lightly make fun of DX:HR – it’s meant to tear it a new augmentation and kick dirt on it.

Yes. If only the English language had a word for satire that imitates and exaggerates an existing work for the purpose of criticizing it through humor.

Hang on, hang on. DX1 had just as much of the “large rooms connected by small corridors and some air vents” level design. That MJ12 base you wake up in without any of your stuff? The hangar you have to wander about because your helicopter gets captured? Heck, Area 51, come to that.

There’s some other subtle touches here that highlight some of the more jarring elements in HR:

-the reduced walking speed
-the strange placing of large groupings of items into singular piles for you to grab, instead of more realistically spread around (who keeps energy bars on a gun shelf? the people of 2027)
-the mass-dishing out of bonus experience points for such minimal tasks such as straying two meters off the path
-the non-interactive backdrop items like stepladders and crates that you’d think you could feasibly use to accomplish your goal but you can’t use them because they’re not glowing yellow

“Hang on, hang on. DX1 had just as much of the “large rooms connected by small corridors and some air vents” level design. That MJ12 base you wake up in without any of your stuff? The hangar you have to wander about because your helicopter gets captured? Heck, Area 51, come to that.”

The key difference is that the DX levels are far more open spaces, and they are one consistent map.

DXHR has the same problem as IW in that it’s a collection of tiny “zones”, with loading in between them

they just hide the loading screen part through the use of better streaming technologies, kinda like Halo

it still has the same problem in that the AI is unable to function beyond the tiny zone it exists in, nor can your actions in one tiny room affect the AI of the next one (beyond a “is the alarm sounded” trigger), because it’s not loaded into the game reality.

Hang on, hang on. DX1 had just as much of the “large rooms connected by small corridors and some air vents” level design. That MJ12 base you wake up in without any of your stuff? The hangar you have to wander about because your helicopter gets captured? Heck, Area 51, come to that.

Did DX have some corridor level design? Yes – off the top of my head the Mole People tunnels, The submarine base, the catacombs (the MJ12 base under UNATCO HQ is a bad example actually – while yes, you can’t be outside it (it’s deep underground) it’s a real facility with several rooms of minimal use to you, and laid out reasonably – you don’t follow a corridor path through it). However, Deus Ex also had situations where you were given a whole facility, outside and inside to approach as you wish: the New York Warehouse District, X-51, Vandenberg Air Base, etc. You could choose your approach, sniping or evading as you go. Choose your way into the building. Or indeed bombard the buidling with high explosives. In Human Revolution, you only have the corridor environments. Some of them are quite wide corridors, but nevetheless. This is made all the more obvious by the fact that you never, ever have to exfiltrate in HR. There’s always an exit point after your final objective – often making you scream “Why didn’t I just come in that way”. The only time HR even approaches the more “open” level design is the Omega Ranch.

I actually really enjoy some of the corridor sections of DX, and I liked HR. However I did find HR’s level design pretty disappointing at the end of the day – it’s the second worst thing about it, after the cutscenes.

HR’s Detroit Police Station is pretty good and open, with a reasonable floor plan, three entrances, and multiple ways to get to and do everything you need. The apartment buildings are reasonably fun and in design are almost identical to similar structures in DE.

The biggest difference is that DE gave you vague little snapshot maps instead of dynamic ones that showed you the exact layout. I think people remember level complexity in DE that wasn’t actually there.

The docks are not all that different from a Vanderberg type environment. I think the two games are pretty close in terms of level design.

Having finished DX2 just a couple of days ago, I laughed bitterly when the finale is set on Liberty Island—which has to be split into two halves by a big wall of plot-side-effect ice that someone thoughtfully installed doors in. And you can’t get up into or onto the statue since that’d let you see both halves at once.

You know. The same place that DX1 did as a single level. The first level. Plus it had water to swim in and find things, not a sheet of ice because DX2 never implemented swimming.

I don’t know how far you played, but calling the FEMA facility “linear” is objectively incorrect. It is huge, it is very expansive, multi-leveled, not a single loading screen anywhere, and there are a dozen ways to get from point A to point B – including the main path which is, yes, a hallway. In order to just walk down that hallway you have to raise every alarm everywhere. Now the boss fight at the end of the level – THAT’S linear. But everything up to that point? No.

If you want to play the game exploring every path, every nook and every cranny, you can. I am, and I am constantly amazed at how many different ways there are to get into a room. Is there always at least one obvious way? Yes, of course – that’s how buildings are made.

I’m impressed with that Trespasser video. Shooting oneself is something I’ve never considered in an FPS. In hindsight it would seem like an obvious feature for games like Zombie Panic, when death-by-zombie has become inevitable.

By the way, isn’t that blade a bit sadistic? Doesn’t look very effective for severing vital functions with as little entry point as possible. It’s like a super sharp (or is it?) axe instead of a sword, and with less force. What’s more, in the trailers it often looks like he rams that thing in the unlikeliest places possible, like your shoulders. Just saying, because there ought to be some thought process behind the design.